Relationship-Focused Dental Marketing

In 2010 consumer expectations will drive dentists to change the way they market online.  Patients shopping for a dentist will not only expect you to have a website, they will also want to see what other information is available about you.  In fact they may even want to know what their friends, and the friends of their friends, also think of you.

Consider for a moment how important ratings and details have become in the book and travel markets.  People now not only want to see photos of the hotel they are considering, they may also want to see video, comments from recent travelers and they may search out several other travel sites to compare information.

This high level of research is not only being done by those “seeking out the best deal”, MarketTools recently revealed a study indicating affluent visitors (with annual incomes of more than $75K) are most likely to research products online before buying (43%). While the power of personal testimonials will live on, consumers will want to view as much information as possible before making decisions about buying everything from hotel rooms to healthcare.

In 2010, consider whether your website needs remodeling.  Get comfortable with the thought of video, if not of yourself, perhaps a team member or hire professional talent.  Provide pictures of your practice, even better would be 360 degree tours of your practice’s highlights.  Participate in social media, such as Facebook—focus on your niche.  When you reveal your true self (or brand) online it will in fact attract patients who want exactly what you have to offer.

This was the fifth of my five 2010 dental marketing predictions composed for my friends at DentalPlanet.

Traditional dental marketing is dead.  It died in 2009. Yellow pages were listed in Wired magazine’s article, “100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About”.  Traditional marketing budgets for direct mail, newspapers, magazines, and television are being moved into online interactive segments, such as search, email and social media marketing (source: Forrester, March/April 2009).

While many tactics may never work again, several traditional marketing techniques will continue to live strong—those being word of mouth, relationship, and referral marketing.

In addition, the common elements that have made all marketing efforts succeed will never change.  Those common elements are planning, implementation, consistency, and tracking.

Marketing is not usually guaranteed, easy, or predictable.  There have always been new opportunities to explore … Remember when you first invested in a website and wondered if anyone would ever see it?

Whether you plan to explore social media marketing opportunities or not, it will still be important to be flexible, consistent, and to track your efforts.  The future will not change these core marketing principles. You will still need to test techniques and evaluate whether they are working—keep doing what is working and change what is not … Be consistent, be patient, and never stop.

Marketing opportunities will continue to evolve.  With new opportunities will be new challenges; however the key to success will be to keep marketing. Doing nothing has eliminated businesses in the past and it will continue to do so in the future.

This article was written as the fourth of my five 2010 dental marketing predictions for my friends at DentalPlanet.  What do you think? What are your marketing plans for 2010?

Without successful word of mouth strategies in place, social media marketing will fail.  This is the third of my 2010 dental marketing predictions.  Social marketing is not a “build it and they will come” tactic …

For example, a traditional magazine ad required you to build your ad, write the check to pay for it, and perhaps sit and wait for it to work.  Social media marketing requires ongoing effort—sort of like maintaining a yard.  You’ll always need to tend to it or it will die.

Practices well versed in referral marketing strategies, those who understand what it takes to make traditional word of mouth succeed, will likely find social media a remarkable opportunity. On the other hand, those practices looking for fast fixes, immediate floods of new patients or those who practice off-and-on “when we have time” marketing will be quickly disappointed in social media.

It’s happening already.  Check out Facebook, and you’ll find dozens of abandoned dental practice pages.  Pages were created, and for whatever reason were left ignored.  Most commonly I hear, “We just don’t have time”, “We don’t know what to say”, “It didn’t work”, etc.  Here are a few successful word of mouth marketing elements to keep in mind with social media:

• Communicate well and be responsive.
• Be personable (yet you don’t have to get personal).
• Be yourself, authenticity is in.
• Make one specific person in your office responsible for regularly maintaining and monitoring your efforts (it helps if they are people oriented, motivated—and for social media, have good web 2.0 skills).
• Be patient.

Social media marketing efforts will build results for the long term.  As with referral and word of mouth marketing, focus on building quality relationships and communities first—the benefits will follow.

What are your thoughts?

In 2010, consider patient relations as patient interactions during which many of their friends observe … My second 2010 dental marketing prediction is “The internet and social media will magnify patient relations – for better or worse”.

A report from Morgan Stanley revealed how many years it has taken each media industry to reach fifty million users. Radio took 38 years, followed by television at 13 years. The Internet seemed to win at 4 years, until Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months.

Never before has media accommodated social interaction at the level and speed we experience today. What that means for dental practices (and all businesses) is that patient relations (customer service) must be exemplary if you wish to attract new business online.  Bad word of mouth can spread at viral speed … read more at DentalPlanet.

Read the first of my five 2010 Dental Marketing Predictions, just released by my friends at DentalPlanet. Prediction #1 is “Relationship Marketing Will Dominate Traditional Marketing” …

Changing consumer behavior, the Internet and social media will continue to fuel a major shift in the direction of marketing and advertising. The internet will continue to squeeze out phonebook ads and newspaper subscriptions.  Television commercials will continue to be skipped—a result of the growing proliferation of DVR’s … and Pepsi is ending 23-years of super bowl ads, while shifting the budget to new media.

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs, etc. will continue to capture the attention of your patients.  Add to this the fact that today, 6% of consumers say they believe marketers’ ad claims … which means 94% don’t (source: Forrester).

Read more, see what others think about the predictions, and enter to win cool Prize Packages, including BestBuy gift cards, Free Website, $500 off Equipment, Intraoral Camera, A Curing Light, a copy of my ebook “Referral Marketing How-To System For Dentists”  & more at DentalPlanet.com.

Join us!  We’re partnering up with Korey Korfiatis at DDSBrand to present a Social Media & Referral Marketing Seminar for Dentists …

Many dental practices are finding themselves pondering the question, “Can social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and web video truly help me attract new patients and grow referrals?” “Is it all just a trend? or is new media truly being consumed more than traditional media?”

Learn about this and much more.  Rita will present with Korey on one day only, Friday, February 26, 2010 in lovely Seattle (The Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, WA).  Register at DDSBrand.  We look forward to seeing you!

Social media marketing may prove difficult for some dentists—as well as many other businesses …  Seth Godin said, “Social media processes build results for the long haul“.  I agree, and would also add referral and relationship marketing to that point.

For example, you may not be able to immediately measure the value of your exceptional patient relations skills, however they’ll likely impact your referrals.  Focus on building communities on Facebook and acquiring quality followers on Twitter for relationship purposes first—and the benefits will follow.

Quality patient relations skills are key to successful relationship building, both in person and in online social networks …  Read why dental teams should assess their patient relations skills before implementing a social media marketing strategy in the Metropolitan Denver Dental Society’s Articulator Magazine, pg 1.

Recent social media seminars for dentists have sold-out here in Denver.  As demand in online marketing continues to grow, likewise the number of new challenges grows …

The number one concern I hear from dentists about marketing via Facebook is “privacy”.  Dentists, and team members, are worried about patients accessing their personal Facebook accounts once they participate on behalf of a practice/business Facebook page. However, once we review the appropriate privacy settings for personal accounts, that hurdle is easily overcome.

In fact, it’s a good idea to set a Facebook guideline for your practice such as: If posting, commenting or interacting on behalf of the practice (on the practice page), please be sure your privacy settings are set as “private” for your personal Facebook account.  This will help ensure that team members personal lives remain separate from the practice.

November 2009 Sold-Out Social Media Session # 1

Rita Zamora Pre-Seminar Preparation

Social Media Seminar Downtown Denver Warwick Hotel

Despite the internet, social media and all of the wonderful technologies we enjoy in dentistry, it’s the soft skills that still reign king.  Dr. Barry Polansky, author of the book “The Art of the Examination“, explains that people skills are a prerequisite to a successful private practice and that trust is the highest form of human motivation.

Read more in Dr. Polansky’s “Ask the Expert” column in Dental Economics. Explore Dr. Polansky’s coaching services in his Academy of Dental Leadership.